1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to drip pans for use under motor vehicles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various pan constructions have been advanced in the prior art to solve the problem of oil and grease dripping from motor vehicles onto garage floors. For example, a low drip pan is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,044,575 which is specifically a wide garage drip pan of unitary construction that is made to catch drippings from motor vehicles. An absorbent pad for catching drips is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,284,273. A disposable oil drip pan is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,834,527. These various pans are of conventional designs and are single pans merely placed below the vehicle and as single pans catch the drippings.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,246,982 shows a car ramp and drip pan assembly which has a ramp member to permit a car to drive over a wall and into the pan. In FIGS. 5 and 6 this patent shows that the ramps themselves can be hooked onto the pan, so the car or vehicle is driven into the pan directly.
The concept of having different pan constructions which have interlocking and partially overlapping lips on their edges is shown in an interlocking tray in U.S. Pat. No. 3,734,309. The trays are serving trays for airline use, and are not concerned with catching drips. The lips are overlapped for one half of the length of the wall only.
Card racks that form a type of pan or receptacle and which have overlapping lip sections are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,069,941 and overlapping display trays are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,857,482.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,343,706 shows a multiple part drawer divider which has overlapping flanges on one side that permits locking the drawer dividers together.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,315,561 shows a drip pan for radiators and cooling systems which is mounted on casters and has internal partitions. It has an edge lip all the way around, and does not indicate or suggest in any way the ability to overlap the lips.
Additional patents that show the state of the art for various trays include the following:
U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,530,725, 2,934,003, and 3,857,342.